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• carman
  carman

  noun

  one of the crew of a streetcar or the like, as the motorman.
• Carman
  Carman

  noun

  (William) Bliss, 1861–1929, Canadian poet and journalist in the U.S.

carman

¹ American  

[kahr-muhn] / ˈkɑr mən /

noun

• carmen
  plural

1. one of the crew of a streetcar or the like, as the motorman.

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Carman ² American  

[kahr-muhn] / ˈkɑr mən /

noun

1. (William) Bliss, 1861–1929, Canadian poet and journalist in the U.S.

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carman British  

/ ˈkɑːmən /

noun

1. a man who drives a car or cart; carter

2. a man whose business is the transport of goods; haulier

3. a tram driver

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• carmen
  plural

Etymology

Origin of carman

1570–80, in sense “person driving a cart”; car ¹ + -man

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

carman Carman carmen

A pilche, or leather coat, seems to have been the common dress for a carman.

From Notes and Queries, Vol. III, Number 87, June 28, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various

"What honest poor devils you must be down here!" said Skeffy, as he saw the carman deposit the trunks on the road and drive off.

From Tony Butler by Charles James Lever

The carman dropped the shafts on to the mare, and drove on up the pass, with one side of the car turned up and himself on the other.

From In Mr. Knox's Country by Martin Ross

"There it is now, bad luck to it!" said the carman, savagely, for his horse was so completely exhausted that he was obliged to walk at his head and lift him at every step.

From Davenport Dunn, Volume 1 (of 2) A Man Of Our Day by Charles James Lever

I was disguised as a carman, as a Catalan, and the coolness of my answers deceived my interrogators. 

From The Bible in Spain - Vol. 2 [of 2] by George Henry Borrow

Police will be ready to submit the case to prosecutors by Friday, according to Anek, who noted that the deadline for them to indict Carman was 18 September.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Carman said there are 400 or so hydrogen buses and trucks on the roads, and he has faith in new, smaller production plants and stations eventually opening to serve them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

“Whatever it is, it’s a computer, monitor and banner,” said Carman, who described Lu as a community volunteer rather than a spy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

Ashley Carman: Spotify came about during a time when the music industry was essentially decimated by piracy.

From Slate ● Dec. 14, 2023

Something told me when I saw Warner walking along the corridor of the Carman Building that he was not there by accident.

From Out of the Air by Inez Haynes Gillmore

Rail unions have argued that the new technology shouldn’t replace inspections by well-trained carmen.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2023

Cox said a detailed inspection by a carmen might have caught the problem and prevented the derailment.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2023

“Every time the wheels come off the rail, it’s kind of like buying a lottery ticket to the big disaster,” said Jason Cox with the carmen division of the Transportation Communications Union.

From Seattle Times ● May 16, 2021

Seventy cents an hour was the minimum wage fixed by the U. S. Railroad Labor Board for shopmen: machinists, boilermakers, blacksmiths, electricians, sheet metal workers, carmen.

From Time Magazine Archive

We thought of our "dealer," our wealthy boss, How he's spared by the law just created; How we carmen are made to suffer the loss When for fraud by a Court we are "slated."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, 1890.05.10 by Various